Big bite on little lakes

Cool weather doesn’t keep fishermen away from opener

By Trisha Marczak (Contact) | The Daily Journal

Published Monday, May 12, 2008

Rough weather and cold water temperatures didn’t make for an ideal fishing opener in Otter Tail County, but that didn’t stop area anglers from making it out on the big day.

T. J. Newkirk and his son Luke started their morning early, making their rounds on area lakes before casting their lines in the southwest inlet of Otter Tail Lake late Saturday morning. Although their luck began to run out in the early hours, the Newkirks braved the rain and stuck it out through their late-morning slump to honor their father - son tradition.

“It’s a good time for us. Especially when the fish are biting,” said Newkirk.

Those who did report good luck had spent their day on smaller, shallow lakes like Walker and Little Pine, said Gary Peterson, owner of Ken’s Tackle Shop in Battle Lake. But he said, overall, this year’s opener took off at a slow pace.

“As far as fish go, it was slow because of water temps,” he said. “We’re about two and a half weeks behind things right now.”

Peteron wasn’t able to stock Shiner Minnows, a native bait commonly used for Walleye fishing, which contributed to his decrease in sales. He hopes his stock will increase in time, but can’t make his customers any promises at this point.

“We can’t fight with mother nature. You just never know with something like that.”

Main Street Gas and Goods in Dalton said most of their sales took place on Friday, when customers were stocking up for their midnight run on the eve of the opener.

“As far as bait, we were pretty busy on Friday and pretty slow on Saturday”, said Kelly Walvatne, who worked the opening weekend.

Bruce Hoseth at Underwood Quick Stop had expected sales to be down this year. He said a few fishermen came out on top, despite the weather, and most had reported an average day on the lake.

“It was better than I thought it would have been,” Hoseth said.